10 Greatest Band Rivalries In Rock History
2. The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones
If you're even remotely familiar with rock and roll competitions, this is the one that arguably started them all. Once the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, the British Invasion began its full tilt into America, bringing rock and roll onto the mainstream charts. Though the band were known as the foundational band of the day, they had some contenders for the crown in the Rolling Stones.
From a marketing standpoint, this rivalry had the perfect package. With each passing record, the Beatles were known as the made-up pretty boys, while the Stones were being looked at as a more raucous take on the British Invasion sound. Though a lot of the feud was in good fun, John Lennon did admit that the Stones were stealing a little too much from them with the records they would release.
Even with some sniping back and forth, each band got along quite well with one another, with Lennon and McCartney even writing one of the bands' first hits "I Wanna Be Your Man." With Jagger and Richards marking them down as a primary influence, it seems that the birth of the Beatles gave the world incredible music from two great bands.